DoD News

News Article

Iraqi Soldier Wounded; Iraqi Troops Find, Destroy Weapons

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2006  An Iraqi soldier participating in operations with coalition forces was wounded during a battle with insurgents near a bridge close to the Euphrates River near Hit, Iraq, in one of several military actions yesterday.

The soldier's condition is unknown at the time, officials said today.

Troops from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, and coalition forces also found and cleared six weapons caches during the joint operations.

Officials said the caches included a mixed bag of two AK-47 assault rifles with eight loaded magazines, 14 assorted artillery rounds and fuses, 300 rounds of assorted small arms ammunition, 51 rounds for a 57 mm recoilless rifle, four ski masks and a license plate.

The arms and ammunition were taken into custody for further investigation and disposition.

In western Iraq near the city of Khalidiyah, soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, discovered a cache during a combat patrol north of that city , officials reported.

The cache consisted of four 155 mm rounds, three 3-inch rockets, one anti-tank mine, and one radio.

Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, found a weapons cache near Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

Elsewhere, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, collared four men and cleared an illicit weapons cache during operations conducted near Haditha, a Euphrates River city of 90,000 people, officials said.

The military-aged males were taken into custody for further investigation and questioning.

The cache consisted of an AK-47 with 65 magazines, three hand grenades, one K-98 rifle, 400 rounds of loose small-arms ammunition, 15 pounds of propellant, two feet of detonation cord, a garage door opener, and two load-bearing vests.